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Wings

That night the easterly wind blew up into a gale It rattled the shutters, shook the doors and unsettled the whole cottage Every now and then a great gust of wind howled around the cottage, blowing the s the three occupants of the fireside quilts choking and spluttering

Upstairs, Maxie had refused to leave hisas loudly as ever, much to the irritation of Marcia and Aunt Zelda, neither of whoot up quietly and peered out of theas she always did on storer brother Theo, a Shape-Shifter like her older brother, Benja his life below the clouds Theo wanted to soar up through theht forever One winter&039;s day he had coood-bye to his sister, and at dawn the next day she had sat by the Mott and watched as he Shifted for the last time into his chosen Shape, a storm petrel The last Aunt Zelda had seen of Theo was the powerful bird heading out over the Marrao, she knew that she was unlikely to ever see her brother again, for stor over the oceans and rarely return to land, unless blown in by a storhed and tip-toed back to bed

Marcia had stuffed her pillow over her head in an effort to drown out the dog snores and the high-pitched howl of the wind as it swept over the e in its way, tried to batter its way through and out the other side But it wasn&039;t just the noise that kept her awake There was so had given her some hope for the future A future back at the Castle, free fro her next move

Downstairs, Boy 412 couldn&039;t sleep at all Ever since he had done the spell he felt odd, as if a swarined little bits of Magyk left behind fro around and around He wondered why Jenna, as now sleeping soundly, wasn&039;t awake Why wasn&039;t her head buzzing too? He slipped his ring on, and the golden glow lit up the roo That hy his head was buzzing, and that hy he could do the spell so easily He had found a Magyk ring

Boy 412 started thinking about what had happened after he had done the spell How he had sat with Jenna looking through the spell book until Marcia had noticed andthat she didn&039;t want anyaround, thank you very , when no one else was about, Marcia had cornered him and told him she wanted to talk to hi, that could only mean trouble

Boy 412 felt unhappy He couldn&039;t think straight, so he decided toArmy Facts List It had alorked before

Fact One No earlyroll call: GOOD

Fact Two Much better food: GOOD

Fact Three Aunt Zelda nice: GOOD

Fact Four Princess-girl friendly: GOOD

Fact Five Have Magyk ring: GOOD

Fact Six ExtraOrdinary Wizard cross: BAD

Boy 412 was surprised Never before in his life had the GOOD outnumbered the BAD But somehow that made the one BAD even worse Because, for the first ti to lose Eventually he fell into an uneasy sleep and woke early with the dawn

The next eneral air of expectation in the cottage

Aunt Zelda was out at dawn checking for storht There weren&039;t any, which hat she expected, although she always hoped otherwise

Marcia was expecting Silas back with her KeepSafe

Jenna and Nicko were expecting ahis breakfast

Boy 412 was expecting trouble

"Don&039;t you want your porridge chunks?" Aunt Zelda asked Boy 412 at breakfast "You had two helpings yesterday, and you&039;ve hardly touched them today"

Boy 412 shook his head

Aunt Zelda looked concerned "You&039;re looking a bit peaky," she said "Are you feeling all right?"

Boy 412 nodded, even though he wasn&039;t

After breakfast, while Boy 412 was carefully folding his quilt as neatly as he had always folded his Ar of his life, Jenna asked him if he wanted to come out in the Muriel Tith her and Nicko to watch for the Message Rat co back He shook his head Jenna wasn&039;t surprised She knew Boy 412 did not like boats

"See you later, then," she called out cheerily as she ran off to join Nicko in the canoe

Boy 412 watched Nicko steer the canoe out along the Mott and into the , as though the night&039;s east wind had rubbed it raw He was glad he was staying in the cottage by the warm fire

"Ah, there you are," said Marcia behind him Boy 412 jumped "I&039;d like a ith you" Boy 412&039;s heart sank Well, that was it, he thought She&039;s going to sendArood to last

Marcia noticed how pale Boy 412 had suddenly beco-foot pie last night? I found it a bit indigestible et much sleep either, especially with that awful east wind And speaking of wind, I don&039;t see why that disgusting dog can&039;t sleep solad that Maxie slept upstairs

"I thought you ht like to show me the island," Marcia continued "I expect you already know your way around"

Boy 412 looked at Marcia in alarm What did she suspect? Did she know he&039;d found the tunnel?

"Don&039;t look so worried" Marcia sart patch? I&039;ve never seen where a Boggart lives"

Regretfully leaving the ware behind, Boy 412 set off with Marcia to the Boggart patch

Together theyArure even in his bulky sheepskin jacket and baggy rolled-up sailor&039;s trousers, was ht red hat, which so far he had refused to take off, even for Aunt Zelda Towering above hi at a brisk pace, which Boy 412 had to occasionally break into a trot to keep up with Her gold and platinuht, and her heavy silk and fur robes flowed out behind her in a rich purple streaart patch

"Is that it?" asked Marcia, a little shocked at how any creature could live in such a cold and muddy place

Boy 412 nodded, proud that he could show Marcia so she didn&039;t already know

"Well, well," said Marcia "You learn so Boy 412 in the eye before he had a chance to look away "Yesterday I learned so"

Boy 412 shuffled his feet uneasily and looked away He didn&039;t like the sound of this